Gridiron, Week 4
I don’t think this series can be talked enough. KU’s season is going end up somewhere between bad and good, probably not distinguishing itself much in the recent history of bad and good KU teams. That’s ok. We can hope for better.
But this Gridiron series – is anyone else doing this? To this extent? (Maybe other schools are, and I just haven’t seen it.) Who’s idea was it? Who’s putting the (considerable!) time in each and every week to produce them? I can read the credits, of course, but this seems to be a project with considerable depth. There’s a commitment by somebody, at least, to a high-level of quality. Whether that’s the dept, Gill, or just Micah Brown himself… it distinguishes itself from other lazy attempts at PR and social attempts. This isn’t Bill Self starting a Twitter feed to appear hip and accessible. This isn’t a Facebook page. And this isn’t a pre-game video with Metallica playing in the background. This is GOOD.
And what strikes me is – if this is a pretty new, original way of documenting a season (and a program, and a coach… and all the positive impact that could have to fundraising, recruiting, and promoting the program) – then don’t other schools and programs HAVE to start doing this? Will a similar form of documentation be done with KU basketball? If you’re Florida or Ohio St. and you see Micah Brown creatively BLOWING UP any of your attempts at promotion, don’t you start looking around for an equivalent?
I know it’s not really anything new. There are all kinds of tools now to create and control your brand (he said, cynically). And considering its effectiveness, I’m sure this is fairly inexpensive to do. What Micah Brown and KU are doing here, though, feels new. It feels comprehensive and inclusive. While we know the content is filtered, it’s also inferred that they’re not going to cancel the series after three straight losses. (If they didn’t shut it down after the NDSU loss, they’re in for good, right?) In that sense, it feels genuine. And provides a (somewhat) honest, underlying narrative of the kind of dignified positivity this staff has promoted in other venues. Brown’s directorial tone IS the staff’s tone. It gives me chills at how well he’s matched the medium to the message.
Since Micah Brown was nice enough to visit us here a few weeks back, I’m going to email him some questions to get more info. Hopefully he’ll have a few seconds to fill us in.
